Avengers, Hawaii 5-0, femslash

[bluflamingo]

So, I might have done what I always do when I get into something new, and read a few fics by people who's stuff I know and love, got totally hooked and gone on a mad reading spree as well as watching the canon repeatedly.

Which is a longish way of saying that Tesco had Avengers Assemble on special offer and I bought it having got hooked on fic about the characters. I don't think I've watched a superhero movie since The Incredibles.



I love the movie. I love Natasha - I love that she's smart and caring and I love her relationship with Barton (and that she fixes him by kicking him in the head, I want to be able to do that!).

I love that the female characters wear practical clothes for their jobs, not short skirts, and that everyone's uniforms are form-fitting, not just the women.

I love Hill, for being cool, calm and awesome. I love Furt for being snarky and taking no crap from anyone and the line about real power wanting a magazine (am I supposed to love those two? I kind of feel like I'm supposed to dislike Fury at least, but I love him).

I love Hawkeye and Iron Man, and I love that they get it together in the end but they're also really *bad* at getting it together, and that they save the world and then have dinner in silence with nothing to say to each other. I kind of love every time Captain America gets thrown through a window or whatever, because, honestly, he would drive me up the wall if I had to work with him, he's way too earnest and virtuous.



So, question: is it worth watching the various other movies in the same universe?

Total change of subject: I haven't watched the first two episodes of 5-0, mostly because I haven't actually had a solid fort-five minutes at home in weeks. But I've got this story in my head in which Steve is Stephanie and still sleeping with Catherine and goes out bar-hopping with Kono and is still best friends with Danny.

My question is: in the first episode, Danny punches Steve for basically being annoying and gettig him shot. I don't know why, but I have a hard time imagining Danny hiting a woman for the same reasons (though he did swing a part of a boat into a woman sort-of-bad-guy). And the whole being put on his knees thing would, I think, be treated as maybe more humiliating by the people around him if it was done by a woman? What I can't figure out is, if Danny wouldn't punch her, what would he do? My brain keeps getting stuck - help?

And sort-of left conversational turn again: I couldn't sign up for this year's femslash exchange because I didn't know *any* of the listed fandoms (well, now Avengers, but sign ups are closed). I used to know loads of them, and I find this kind of depressing. Any good recs for femslashy shows or movies I ougt to be picking up?

And that's it for this whsitle stop tour of bluflamingo and fandom. Please exit the ride to your left, and take all belognings with you :)

Comments

[domarzione]

If you haven't seen Captain America, I would recommend that. Peggy Carter is ninety kinds of awesome and it's a surprisingly heart-warming movie before it gets into the action-heavy stuff. Tommy Lee Jones hasn't been this enjoyable in years.

Thor... I enjoyed it because Ken Branagh knows his way around an epic royal family drama, but I think the fundamental flaw in the story is that Loki's arc is so much more fascinating than Thor's. (Especially if you see the blu-ray version with the deleted scenes, which are all Loki's.) Definitely enjoyable, passes the Bechdel test, etc.

The first Iron Man is exactly what you think it is, but it's good enough to be the reason the others were even made. I haven't seen the sequel, but it's not nearly as good.

[skieswideopen]

I enjoyed Iron Man and Captain America quite a bit. I didn't like Thor--nearly all of the characters annoyed me immensely--but I think I'm in the minority there, and it does provide some excellent set-up information for Avengers. I haven't heard good thing about the Hulk movies, but I haven't seen them. Iron Man II probably isn't worth your time unless you really, really love Tony Stark. And maybe not then.

I'd really like to see them give Natasha a movie.

What were the fandoms at the femslash exchange? (With Stargate slowly declining, I'm finding it harder to participate in multi-fandom exchanges. Apparently I need a new giant fandom.)

[scrollgirl]

I *still* haven't watched either of the Hulk movies, and now that I've fallen in love with Ruffalo!Hulk, I have even less incentive to watch Eric Bana or Ed Norton. But I ditto skies' recommendation of Iron Man and Captain America. IM2 is not nearly as good as the first IM, but it's the movie that introduces Natasha/Black Widow. I mean, her IM2 characterisation is thin, so you may not want to bother? But RDJ and Scarlett Johansson have oodles of chemistry, which made it worthwhile for me. ;)

I really like Thor, mostly for the women and for Thor interacting with the women. Basically, I fast-forward through the Loki stuff and re-watch all the scenes with Sif, Jane, Darcy, and Heimdall (not a woman, but still awesome).

I'm not sure whether it's femslash heavy, but Once Upon A Time has lots of female representation (though I don't watch).

[havocthecat]

Once Upon a Time has quite a lot of femslash. Season one is up on Netflix, and season two just started last Sunday.

[spillingvelvet]

YESSS WELCOME TO MY LATEST OBSESSIONNNNNNN. I've watched the Avengers so many goddamn times.

Here is my my quick and dirty run-down of the Marvel Cinematic Universe components of The Avengers:

Iron Man 1 and 2 - I love Tony Stark, and I loved these movies to BITS. I re-watch them both regularly. Tony's a damaged guy, which is tasty to me as a writer and a fan. He's got some Issues and I find the movies to be really well done, so I definitely think you should give these a go. [I don't know why people are down on number 2 - I re-watch it more than number 1...]

Captain America - is my favorite Avenger. He's good and kind and brave and smart and goes through a lot of shit to get where he is. His story is a tragedy, and that is compelling to me. [It doesn't hurt that I draw a lot of parallels between him and Cam...] I really genuinely love his movie and it is the one I throw in my bag to take on vacations, I have a Cap bobble head and plastic shield, and my boyfriend knows I would throw him over in a heartbeat for Steve. It's alright, we have an Understanding.

Thor - was pretty good. I love the epic grandeur, and the family dynamic is EXCELLENT. There are some plot holes, but you get so caught up in the action that you don't really care. Loki, as has been mentioned, steals the show. Thor himself has a personal transformation that you kind of have to watch really carefully or else you miss it? I wish they hadn't spent SO MUCH time on Loki and spent a bit more time on fleshing out Thor simply because he's the hero - I genuinely do love Loki, I'm just not a LOKI GIRL. But in the end I've still watched this movie about forty times. Also, Thor's a feminist, and it's NBD, and I fucking love that shit.

The Incredible Hulk - just... you might like it? But I saw it once and don't ever feel compelled to see it again? Edward Norton isn't my Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo is.